Moonlit Kingdom
by kriskascini
Summary: He sat up way too fast, gasps of terror filling the frigid air of the night. But he was there, he held him immediately. "Ichigo." He let his head fall in his shoulder and fingers were running through his hair. "It's okay, Ichigo."
1. Boredom, he RAN

For all the lovely stories I've read for this pairing, I'm now giving back to the community. I dedicate this one tho Penny, Racey and ConfusionNoHime.

This is set about eight months after the winter war. Enjoy. :)

Grimm-p.o.v.

Grimmjow sat cross-legged on the high back throne that once belonged to Aizen. In one hand, a glass of red wine, in the other, a few pounds of boredom**.** As he stared at the empty white room with the high ceilings, a pool of light poured in from the wholes in the walls, still unfixed.

Grimmjow was alone.

**[**He was too proud to admit the idea that he could have died on the war, alas, he had never expected to survive either, at least not while all Espadas, and rogue Shinigamis, would die to the hands of Seretei. This that had happened, was the unexpected. When he woke up, to a world deprived of strong reiatsu, he was taken by surprise, and after recovering his strength, they found him. The remaining arrancar bowed to him and looked up for guidance. He gave it to them. He was the new king of Hueco Mundo. And he quite enjoyed it too.

That was, until the boredom started. There was no one to fight, no one to defeat, no one to even bicker with. He dared to think he missed that fucker, Nnoitra, a lot.

He chugged down the rest of his wine and yelled his lungs out for another glass. A short, red headed arrancar scurried out of one of the side doors with a bottle and filled it without a single word. The king had killed enough servants for talking when he didn't feel like hearing.

"Out." He voiced mechanically, swirling the wine around in the glass. Such a pretty color, red. Much like dried blood. He dearly missed the color. The sound of the door slipping closed barely registered on his mind. Grimmjow was thinking about much nicer things, like killing, feeling his empty heart pounding madly and the life draining out of pray. He was quite tired of eating meager hollows. He longed for strength, for fight. With a groan he downed the wine and set the glass on the floor, jumping up from his the throne.

The moment he was out of the front door in that room, he was face to face with long-hair-huge-tits. "Grimmjow". Yes. There she was. The little fucker that clung to him for dear life out on the desert and ended up saving his life with fucking DROOL out of all things! Save his life? He meant helped him, when he was perfectly fine. He would've recovered from Nnoitra's blow in no time, he could still kill. Fact now was, he couldn't bring himself to hurt her. Not after she cried tears of relief when he woke up.

Most of the time she would just steer clear of him, so, he had to ask, albeit rather rudely. "What do you want Nel?"

She smiled that small smile he rarely saw. "We have a visitor, Grimmjow."

Ichi-p.o.v.

He ran! He, fucking Kurosaki Ichigo, killer of the infamous Sousuke Aizen, RAN. Why? You may ask? Well that's a little more complicated to explain.

You see he was back at home, filling in his college application, when the doorbell rang, and after about five minutes, it rang again. Ichigo had called out to his father absentmindedly for him to answer the door already. Only after that act did it dawn on him that Isshin was out on shinigami duty and Karin and Yuzu were at the movies. He sighed and dragged his ass to the door. He put his best frown on and opened the door. "What?" He grunted, before even seeing who it was.

"Kurosaki-kun, he-hello." Orihime, with a shy smile on her face.

He seriously tried to relax his facial muscles before attempting to talk again.

She began to rant when he didn't say a thing. "Am I interrupting something, is it a bad time? I can come tomorrow morning if thats better for you!"

He moved away from the door, leaving her to follow him. "Hey! No, I was just finishing out the application form." He plopped himself on the couch at about the time she closed the door behind her, she would soon follow him.

"So... are you still planning to go to Hokkaido University?" She seamed a little tentative, like she would be disappointed to be proven right.

It didn't even occur to him NOT to be honest. "Yes-"

"You can't." She interrupted him, borderline yelling and with a serious look on her eyes. His eyes went wide as he stared at her.

"Why?" He blurted.

She suddenly seemed to realize she was pretty rude, and went into adorable, confusing Orihime rant mode. "Aaaah-ha, well, mmh... The town! Kurosaki kun, you can't leave Karakura to the hollows!" She grinned and blushed profusely, she knew full well how out of it that was.

Ichigo face-palmed. "What's the real reason you don't want me to go? Inoue, if you want to tell me something, just do it. Don't beat around the bush.

She looked down and fisted her skirt. "Just like that... is it what I should do?"

Ichigo tried to make sense of what she was saying, but he didn't even have a facial expression to work with, so he went with coherence. "Yes, it is."

She got up and walked until she was right in front of him, and propping one knee down on the couch beside him, she bent foreword. It was very fast, and Ichigo was still trying to make out why she got up when she crashed her lips to his. He didn't have time to react. She said 'I love you, Kurosaki-kun, that's the truth', to his empty, half curious, wide eyed face.

He said nothing, remained in the exact same spot. After the tension dragged on for enough time, Inoue straightened herself up and sobbed, understanding the silence. Ichigo stood up and walked out the room, up the stairs, into his room. Where he couldn't listen to her quiet crying, he grabbed Kon out of its evening nap, eyes hazy and lifeless while sticking his hand down its throat to grab at the soul pill. The moment he parted from his body he was standing on the window sill.

"Uh?" Kon whined unintelligently.

Ichigo flashed him a dead smile, filled with sarcasm. "She's all yours."

After that... He doesn't remember anything. That must have been courtesy of Shiro, since he DID end up in Hueco Mundo. He didn't even care right now. He hurt Orihime, and as the coward that he is when it comes to relationships, he ran. Ichigo wasn't to blame, really, he just didn't return her feelings at all.

He gazed across the endless sands, white bright in the moonlight. He had RAN.

A/N: Yes, it's short. And I'll keep it so. I'll right a little more every time I can, so I'll update as often as possible.


	2. Still strong

I promised more updates instead of bigger chapter length, and here is the second instalment of Moonlit Kingdom. I was pretty sad that I had a few story alerts with the first chapter but no reviews at all. Having no reviews makes me nervous. I'm making this story to give back to the GrimmIchi writers community, so I need to know what you think and what you want. Fan-service is the key word. I won't post faster or slower in accordance to reviews, but they do also make me happy.

In this chapter they meet. Enjoy.

Grimm-p.o.v.

Forget sensing, he could fucking taste Kurosaki's reiatsu as he sonidoed through the dunes at top speed. This was beyond nice, good or fantastic. This, was… completely perfect. It was like the world he ruled had answered his requests. Kurosaki Ichigo. All _his_ to fight with. In a world that had lost so much energy with the winter war, he broadcasted his power like a radio tower to all hollow in a thousand mile radios, not that they'd dare come close with fear of getting either eaten or killed. How he longed to cross swords with him again.

The second Nel told him something other than a hollow had opened a garganta into the vicinity of Las Noches he was out and looking for it. And when he crossed Kurosaki's reiatsu he felt downfuck retarded for not thinking of going to him before. She was somewhere on his tail, he knew, but he wasn't about to slow down for her, he wanted to see him NOW. Since she had regained her adult shape that she was weak like a menos, but no one would touch her, they were too scared of the king.

He came to a screeching halt as he approached the source of familiar reiatsu. Out sat on a dune, was a black clothed figure, splash of orange hair a stark contrast to the monochrome of the desert.

Ichi-p.o.v.

Ichigo had been convinced he would be unperturbed out here, but he was about to discover how wrong he was.

The heavy blanket of an outstretching reiatsu wave did not come with immediate recognition. How could it? You tend to forget the reiatsu signatures of those you think dead. It was not until he whipped his head around to glare in the general direction of the power source that a blur of teal, faded in the pale white of the moon, pang his heart with memory. He was mortified. In his mind it was back to a year ago, when he felt weak and helpless, like a rag doll in the sexta's hands. And then he took a deep breath, and jumped foreword to their last battle. He was superior, he could handle him. And so, barely avoiding a panic attack, he stood to face his unexpected opponent.

As soon as he was on his feet, Jaggerjaques was standing a couple of meters from him. A satisfied insane smile on his face. He seamed extremely pleasured to see him. "Kurosaki Ichigo, to what do I owe the insanity of your visit?"

Ichigo's constant frown was broken to allow a elegant eyebrow to rise above the other. "I hear hard words. Maybe you are not who I though you were." In a flash the blunette was in his face.

"What the fuck is that supposed to mean, Kurosaki?" Ichigo smirked.

"That's more like the Grimmjow I know, right there." Said man snarled back in response, his lips stretching into an invigorated shit-eating grin. He moved to his fingers to Pantera's hilt.

"Yes, I'm still your dear Grimmjow, with all the right parts." He howled in laughter, drawing his zampakuto.

Before he could pounce, Ichigo felt the need to fill the former Espada on a few facts. "I don't think of attacking me to be too wise. I don't suppose you know how the war ended."

Grimmjow didn't seem phased. "What? Did you slay Aizen the bitch? So what? I'm so bored these days I'd radder die quick to your hands than not fighting you at all."

Ichigo's brows drew impossibly tighter. After a few seconds of tension, he asked the question that was dripping acid on his insides. "How did you survive, Grimmjow?"

The arrancar did not answer. But instead let his sword start the talking. Zanguetsu and Pantera were meeting, sparks flying on a halo around them. "I see you remain as impulsive as before." Blades met a few times more without much movement from their part. Like a game with sticks.

"Why talk, when we can fight? Didn't you miss me, Kurosaki?" Grimmjow sonidoed behind him to strike down. Ichigo kept up without needing shunpu, just turned around in a blur and countered, without breaking a sweat.

"This won't end too well for you." They stood there, swords pushing against each other and probing for differences on what they remembered about their foes strength. Grimmjow could easily feel just how sturdy the boy had become, like a wall where once was a fence, and visibly resisted the urge to swear. They were just measuring each other up, and so far it was so much fun.

They didn't notice the green haired woman until she called out to them. "Itsugo! Grimmjow!" She came running at them on her own legs through the dunes.

Ichigo forgot for a moment that he was fighting a wit battle with a deadly opponent and and stared wide eyed at her. "Nel?" He inquired, ignoring the hollow he still had a sword crossed with. She didn't answer him though.

"Grimmjow, is that any way to treat guests? And he was nice enough to come all the way out here!"

Ichigo continued in his wave length, refusing to register the nonsense spewing out of her mouth. "You're alive and well, and you're here? And and..." He took in her appearance in a white arrancar uniform.

Grimmjow sheathed Pantera with a growl directed clearly at the female arrancar. "He ain't a guest. This is my world, my kingdom, I say who we treat as guests!" He crossed his arms and pouted like a kid who wasn't having his way. But did not move to continue on his Nel-disapproved path.

Ichigo's confusion escalated when Nel hugged him to her massive chest. "Itsugo! I'm so happy you're here! Please come stay with us for a while, please! I'll even cook!" Grimmjow grimaced. Ichigo could have guessed it was from the overall weirdness, but it also could be dread for Nelliel's cooking. And only then did he catch up. Either Inoe's ordeal had made him slow, or the world was just moving to fast for him.

"Why is it Grimmjow's Kingdom?" He asked up, like a confused kiddy to his mommy.

Nel accordingly pet his head while she answered him. "Because he's the Hollow King now, Itsugo, he's the one in charge." And when he though about it. It made sense. All of the other Espadas were dead as far as he knew.

He stared at the blunette as if seeing someone else. "So now you're in charge, huh? Sounds like you're moving up in life like you wanted, ne?" Grimmjow's face split up in his trademark insanity grin.

"Hell yeah! You bet I am!"

A/N: I'm doing this as fast as I can. I have very few ideas as to what to make of this, but I won't have them being initially attracted to each other. I want to make this as IC as possible.


	3. A living household

More 'Grimmjow acting like a kid that doesn't have his way', anyone?

Ichi-p.o.v.

The dash back to Las Noches was a tad awkward, what with Ichigo carrying Nell on his back side by side with Grimmjow. Ichigo didn't know if he was supposed to be doing this, but what else should he do? He wanted to be sure Nelliel was really ok, and Grimmjow didn't seem to want to fight him in front of her. Which was also fishy. He didn't recall the arrancar ever being remotely respecting of anyone's will, much less someone who was not his superior, which was the case, since Nell didn't seem to be giving off a lot of reiatsu. He supposed it had something to do with her being able to maintain an adult shape, but he was not about to ask questions. This was a mortal enemy he was thinking about. A mortal enemy that was currently sonidoing alongside him. Ichigo was going insane.

The looming figure of the palace seemed so close that it could collapse on top of them, but he knew from experience that it was still a long ways away from them. Artificial sunlight, however, was already present here, so he could safely assume they were rapidly closing in on the structure.

"I see the sunlight dome is still up." Nell tightened her arms on his shoulders.

"It wasn't when we first moved back in, but it was a little depressing to not have sun after knowing what day and night were, so we ordered the remaining fraccion of the last octava to repair it." She mused in his ear. He continued to admire what was left of Las Noches, a lot still seemed to be blown to pieces since the winter war. Only two of the several tall towers were standing. He turned his head left to peek at the sexta- wait no, not sexta, now he was an effing king. Blue eyes turned quickly away from him. What was he staring at just now? Did he want to jump him that bad? He was all for fighting him, he just had to say the words.

Ichigo was still simmering over it when they stopped just inside the palace. Nell climbed down from his back and grabbed his arm in a vicious grip that made him miss her little version. "Kotchi, kotchi, Itsugo! I'll show you your way all over!" She dragged him away from a scowling Grimmjow and into a bifurcation of corridors, but he guessed he could deal with him later.

Grimm-p.o.v.

Fuckin bitch. That's what she was. That whore just came and stopped his fun short. Just when things where going to get really fun she had to go and say the word 'guest'. How had he forgotten that she was friends with the visard. This was all so unfair! She couldn't spoil all this for him. How dare she ask of him to tolerate Kurosaki's presence without constantly trying to kill him? It went totally against their relationship, never mind his personality. He growled low in his throat as he made his way to his quarters. He kicked the door down and strode aggressively in the direction of him bed, curling up for a catnap. Cruising around the dunes was some serious workout, not as good as fighting the death berry, but he guessed he would have to wait until Nell dropped her guard on him. The BITCH.

Ichi-p.o.v.

The palace had nothing to do with the Las Noches he saw when he burst in to save Inoue. Under Nelliel's orders, since she seemed to act like a mistress for what was now a household and not a HQ, it was bustling with life. Arrancars were not afraid to walk the halls less they would cross the king himself. They worked and lived in the palace with a smile on their faces, they held mock-families and befriended each other. The only thing that put an enormous gap between their way of life and that of humans and plus, would be the fact that most disagreements were solved with to-death battles. Ichigo had doubts that their numbers would remain for long if they kept going like that, but he said nothing, since Nell seemed to turn a blind eye to it. She had led him through the kitchens to the inner patio where she had a weird attempt at a garden going on. With plants she had snuck in from the real world, her quarters, where four young looking arrancar served her like she was a goddess, and some other rooms, like the throne room, which remained exactly as he remembered; white and cold. Finally she led him to an open lounge with comfortable looking cushions spread around low tables and asked a servant for some arabic brew, whatever that was. She sat across him.

"Whats an arabic brew?"

Nell smiled warmly at him and answered in her soft voice. "The only tea I'm fully able to cultivate on Hueco Mundo soils for now". Ichigo stared at his feet.

"Seems like you've been trying to bring life to this place."

"Is there anything wrong with that?" She asked, confused, she thought for sure she was doing the right thing, the thing that Ichigo would approve of.

"No, no, it's ok. It's just, this world is so... so lifeless, I'm surprised you're able to cultivate anything at all." She smiled happily, like she was about to show a trump card.

"We aren't. Not in the sands of Hueco Mundo. I had to use reiatsu to adulterate the sand into something a little more nutritious. A lot of lowly menos were hurt in the process." A shiver ran down Ichigo's spine, and like a bucket of cold water, he was suddenly reminded that Nelliel was, just like Grimmjow, a hollow. And then there was the fact that she couldn't have really meant that about using reiatsu, she barely had any... unless she was hiding it. This wasn't the young Nell he had met after all. She was an adult, and adults have the ability to lie and hide.

"I see. I like what you're doing a lot Nell." It was true, for the most part. She beamed at him. While she might be less innocent than her former self, Nelliel still held Ichigo very dear.

"I'm so Happy to hear that, Itsugo." She paused as the servant entered with a strange tea set, a very occidental styled one. Nell served the tea and passed him a cup. "So, Ichigo, may I ask you what brought you to our realm in the first place?" She asked as he inhaled the unfamiliar earthy and sweet smell.

"Did you put sugar in this?" He demanded with a weird curious face.

"No, dear. I did not. That's its natural flavour."

"Oh."

"Itsugo, are you answering my question." He seemed to step out of his own world as he faced her, and then sighed deeply.

"Something happened. I just couldn't stand being in the living world at this point in time." She sprung up at this.

"So you are staying for a while, ne?"

His eyes were wide as he considered her words, looking at her while the idea sunk in. "Stay?"

"Why not? Were you planning to go somewhere else? Seretei maybe?" Ichigo scowled very deeply at this fact. Being anywhere but here meant facing someone that would've heard about the whole Inoue fiasco. He didn't want to think what he would say should he ever face Rukia on the matter.

"No, I was not." He pointed with certainty.

"Then be our guest, it's not like we lack rooms. And Grimmjow sure looks like he could use a friend." Ichigo chocked on his tea to glare at her like she'd grown another head.

"Excuse me? A friend? More like a punching bag! Do you have any idea how many times he tried to kill me cold blooded? Do you not remember a thing from when you were a child?"

She giggled at his antics. "Maa, Itsu-chan, he won't dare touch you."

Ichigo stopped short of yelling in her face. "Why?" He ground out between his teeth, he was starting to crave some answers to what the hell was happening in here.

Nell grinned in a way that made him fear for his life and for a second there he could feel insanity radiating from her. "He would dare not go against me."

Ichigo was now sure that she was hiding a lot under her sleeve.

A/N: Yes, Nell is not as innocent as most people make her in this fic, but she does love both of them dearly.

Next chapter we get our first hints at GrimmIchi, so look out for it! * shoot *


	4. Family away from home

Grimm-p.o.v.

Grimmjow was having the nicest catnap ever. The artificial sun warming him to a hot sleepy buzz and lulling him into perfect drowsiness. Stark would've understood him perfectly. A smile graced his lips as he thought of Ichigo in his sleep.

_Kurosaki, Kurosaki, Kurosaki, everywhere he looked inside his mind. He was disheveled and dirty, slight injuries all over his body, and he would be panting, yes, with exertion as the fight grew fierce. He would have his bankai drawn, of course, and he would be yelling at Grimmjow to stop being insolent. Ah, how nice he would look like that. In his busy dreams, something weird happened. Which wasn't so abnormal, one never fully controls his dreams. Grimmjow pounced on the redhead without his sword, pinning him to a white wall. He was dominating him alright. Ichigo looked confused and tried to free himself to no avail. Grimmjow bent down, slathering his neck with his tongue before biting down. _

He rolled over, groaning in pleasure. His whole body tingling with very nice vibes. He noticed with mild interest that his dick was in the same state as him, half awake, and grinned to himself. Moving his nap outside had been the most marvellous idea. He got to have this pretty dreams of fighting Kurosaki, he thought nothing of his arousal, it seemed idyllic for him to get off on proving his superiority to the visard. He rolled over again while sitting up and he opened his eyes, squinting in the mid day sun. From where he was, on the balcony adjoined to his room on one of the high towers, he could see into all the inner yards. Some sported brand new water pools Nell had had built recently, others were green with the tree tops of her adored gardens. He might be the king but she was the boss around here and he knew it. Grimmjow ruffled his own hair with one hand and slowly stood, making his way to the main dining room. By the position of the sun, he could tell it was about time that lunch was served. He remembered not to put his jacket back on.

Ichi-p.o.v.

'Ew'. That was all he felt like saying right now. He had never aten chicken that tasted so, so... greasy. "What's in this thing?"

Nelliel stopped just before bringing her fork to her mouth to answer him. "You don't like it?"

"It's... a tad weird." She chewed hurriedly her mouthful while nodding slowly, looking solemn.

"I guessed as much, you don't fancy the taste of hollow hun? Servant!" Ichigo did a double take. An arrancar rushed inside to clear Ichigo's dish and go fix him something brought from the living world.

"I was eating what?" He squeaked, an octave higher than he would ever care to admit.

"Since Aizen created Las Noches that we, arrancar, have been experimenting with the flavour and texture on hollow meat. Dark and decaying gets old fast." She explained enthusiastically. "We also enrich the meat**, **spirit particle wise, so that four meals a day are able to quench adjucas level hollow. It comes in handy when you want to pamper nervous Espada." Ichigo stared at her food as she ate. He would never dare to raid the fridge in the middle of the night in this place now.

That was the moment the king decided to parade himself into the meal room. Looking groggy as hell, his hair way wilder than usual, spiking forewords and up in an awkward bed head. He dragged his feet to the table and pulled a chair next to Nell. "Yo." Was all he spoke, in a rusty voice.

Ichigo cowered back in his seat as a vein popped in Nelliel's head. "Grimmjow, how many times have I begged of you to put on a shirt before coming to the table?"

He raised an eye brow, his eyes fixated on her, looking deeper then usual with sleep. "Whatever." He shrugged. The same servant as before came in with a plate and served Grimmjow the same Nell was eating. He picked up his silverware and Nell scolded him about how to properly pick up a fork. Ichigo held his breath in, trying to drown a humongous snort of laughter that threatened to spill at any moment. What Nell said always went with Grimmjow, even if he grunted and growled at her. The perfect picture of a stern mother and a rebelled teenager. His eyes started to water with contained laughter. After finally getting the hang in the arts of holding forks, Grimmjow's deep but a little more awake glare turned on him, Ichigo took note of the rare lack of hate behind the look. "What?"

"Nothin'." He quickly breathed in, trying not to crumble into a quaking mass of laughter.

Grimmjow didn't seem the least convinced. "You'rehiding something Kurosaki. Spill the beans." This focused Nell's attention on him as well. Ichigo did look a little flustered, and he had a weird expression going on. He just couldn't hold it in anymore.

"Pffff-BWAAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" He cried, clutching the edge of the table as he doubled over in laughter and kicking the ground under him. The arrancars' expressions werethat of ultimate surprise. They looked at him, and then at one another, then back at Ichigo, who was still howling in glee.

Grimmjow was the first to react properly. "He lost it."

Ichigo took a few deep breaths. "Oh god. Haven't laughed like that in ages."

Nell smiled. "That's all very wonderful, but still, what's so funny?"

Ichigo propped an elbow on the table and rested his face on his knuckles. A servant sat down a plate in front of Ichigo with fish and vegetables, a bowl of rice on its side. Ichigo found himself smiling softly at the two arrancars. "You two are." He said.

Grimmjow rolled his eyes and returned to him meal. Nelliel started a pleasant monologue while Ichigo dug in. All in all, as strange as that might sound, it was a nice meal. To Ichigo it was a little like having lunch with his sisters and dad. He did not think about the fact that those were two different completely things at the time, and that imagining it so was a sign of impending doom, (or insanity, whichever you think more fitting).

Grimm-p.o.v

When he'd first realized that the visard was laughing at him it made him angry, but as he laughed away in glee, small tears staining his red cheeks, Grimmjow's anger vanished. He looked nothing like the Kurosaki Ichigo he knew on the battle field. And that smile made him feel like laughing himself. It was weird, oh so weird. He wasn't about to let something strange pass him by, of course, curiosity was one of his flaws after all.

A/N: Grimm-kitty in all his glory. * Smirk * I'm get an idea of what this story will be like. If you have any ideas, please-oh-please, review. :)


	5. Cat Fight

The topic had risen just as Ichigo was almost done with the apple Nell herself had cut into little rabbits slices. Grimmjow had gotten himself a bottle of red wine, a pricy looking glass and was sipping quietly as he glared at Ichigo. It was not so surprising that Grimm had returned to this state, now that he was more awake, his stomach churning pleasantly, the alcohol mixing with his digesting meal. Here he was, facing Kurosaki once more, and he couldn't kill him. He couldn't even fight him as things stood. The whole ordeal sucked. And Ichigo seamed to be deliberately ignoring the thick waves of bloodlust and frustration rolling off of him, which ticked him off even more so. This went on until Ichigo decided he had ignored the king for long enough and turned to him, interrupting Nell's happy chatter with the following speech: "What are you glaring at? Looking for a fight?"

Well, of course he was. The three of them knew it very well. Nell did not intervene; she wanted to see where this conversation was headed. "Yes." Grimmjow said without adding much intonation to it, stating the obvious like he was talking about the weather, not that they have anything like weather in Hueco Mundo. The prognostic is always clear skies.

Ichigo sighed and reached for his glass of water to finish it. "You are an idiot. We don't need to fight."

"We do." He quickly revoked. "I'm claiming my rematch." This was a mock discussion, it was not set to convince Ichigo that they should fight, if that were in fact the issue, than they'd be at each others throats by now. This was about momma Nell. "I will not accept you as superior."

"You are even more of an idiot to think you can even measure forces with me." Ichigo scoffed. And up straight went Grimmjow, ready to jump at him across the table and punch him square across the jaw, weren't for the stern way Nelliel uttered his name enveloped in menace, as it was he just stood there, his eyes, and nostrils, wide in fury.

"If what you want is to measure forces with each other," Nell said, her speech soft-spoken as she examined her nails, purposely not looking at either enraged sides. "you can easily do it without ending up dead. Just spar. It's okay s'long as you don't break anything." With that said she rose from the table without looking any of the two in the eye. There was the distinct impression on Ichigo that she was disappointed in Grimmjow for not keeping his composure despite her requests. She left the room without finishing her pudding.

And that is the reason as to why he was now left alone with the king of Las Noches. Grimmjow was not happy, Ichigo could clearly distinguish that in the arrancar's eyes. Even if he had permission to fight, the king was not allowed to hurt, and it pissed him off greatly. Even so, he swallowed his anger and smirked. "So, what says you, Kurosaki? Shall we play, like little brats do, since we can't do it the grown up way?" The hair on the back of Ichigo's neck stood on end. He wanted to launch himself at his throat and start it right away, and it were those feelings that made him easily admit to himself that he was just as bored as Grimmjow was. A few months after the war was done with, life had started to feel still and stagnated, empty, and now it was a full blown itch to brawl. Had he not been upset by his Inoue problem, he'd have realized this sooner. He allowed himself a masochistic grin and looked Grimmjow up and down, he couldn't stop himself from groaning silently.

"Do you need to ask?" They were smiling at each other like good old friends when they sonidoed out, chills of excitement running in their veins. In a matter of seconds they were a few miles out in the desert. Not having Nell to deal with made things a big deal faster. Ichigo unsheathed Zanguetsu with pleasure clearly laced in his eyes, and upon looking into his eager face Grimmjow found himself aroused with anticipation. "Let's dance." The visard growled low on his throat. And with that they were fighting. Pantera meeting the other zampakuto every odd millisecond, the fight was quickly airborne, the force used in each consecutive strike increasing exponentially. So far their fight was not so different from some of their previous ones, excluding the fact that neither one had tried to land a blow that wouldn't be either blocked or dodged. They were playing around, and yet they would shiver with every touch, every vibration of metal colliding, exhilaration and adrenaline making them move above all else. The king was not so upset anymore. After a blow that forced Grimmjow to back off into the ground they're sword lock broke apart, leaving them panting a few meters apart, eyes locked.

Ichigo moaned in half mockery. "This feels good." He said, rotating his neck around, emitting loud pops from his vertebrae. The movement one of freedom.

Grimmjow half sighed in barely contented happiness. "It does." He adjusted his stance so his arousal would not bother him as much, the arrancar was a little surprised to find himself rock hard. There was Ichigo, panting and sweating and it satisfied Grimmjow to make him look like that, even if no blood marred either of their clothes. He ran his eyes appreciatively over his handy work, a blow that had been a close one had torn Ichigo's kimono open, and they were both dirty with the dust they had been blowing up. He registered the urge to pounce the visard, dismissing it as bloodlust, 'I wanna reap his head off'. He attacked again, putting an end to their small break, as their swords danced he had the oddest of thoughts. 'What next.' One blow exchanged, one raised brow as Ichigo realized the change in the speed of his foe. 'I kill you then what next?' Ichigo accelerated his tempo and Grimmjow continuously backed up. It was starting to get on the red head's nerves, but Grimmjow just couldn't quite fight and think at the same time, he flip-flopped away from Ichigo and stood there looking him in the eye. 'Then the fun would be over, that's what.' They started towards each other, swords curving in a bow, a bold blow aimed for the neck. The metal collided with the blades a mere inch from their throats. They relaxed their stances simultaneously, both very much tingling with satisfaction. Ichigo was the first to sheath his zampakuto, a smug smile on his lips. They were still very much close. "Youlook like you could use a brake."

"Me? What about you and your clothes?" Grimmjow half growled, half chuckled.

Ichigo's smile was lecherous. Somewhere along the infinite blows that were shared, only a small portion of the visard's chest remained hidden. "Not like that's my fault. You seem to have some kind of need to get them off me." He wasn't even thinking of what he was saying. And just out of the blue, Kurosaki Ichigo dug his own grave. Planting very good ideas and mental images on that not so bright, blue hair and mask decorated head of Grimmjow's.

A/N: I was hiatus due to my two weeks in malaysia. Sorry for the ones that are into this fic.

I know this chapter looks smaller, but it felt long to write, there's just **no dialogue**. It drove me crazy. And why is it that writing that battle made me horny as hell? I loved writing it. But hah well, I have no idea if it's any good. And did anyone noticed they mentally fucked and did not realised it? Ah this world I live in is made of win. I will upload very soon. Your's truly: ~kris.


	6. Games

Ichi p.o.v.

Don't take Ichigo wrong, he is a smart boy. But at age eighteen he does not have enough experience to place the dirty look he was receiving from a strangely calm Hollow King. The temperature had gone down a few degrees, or maybe be up? He couldn't fathom, the only thing he was sure of was that if Grimmjow did not say something real fast, Ichigo was going to be embarrassed. 'Way to spoil the mood, teenager' he though to his non-existent buttons.

A slow smile, however, creeped into the arrancar's face after a few seconds. "Let's get you a change of clothes, huh? I bet you're not gonna get another shinigami uniform out here." Ichigo was **not **put to ease by this. Suddenly the world seamed to be tipped off balance, like a weird dream, Grimmjow's voice was sandpapery, like it hadn't been used in ages. Ichigo preferred silence, he feared.

"Sure." They both turned to sonido back, and in a short time Ichigo was following Grimmjow through his corridors. It was dully noted that in Grimmjow's presence, no other arrancar populated the palace, they did flee from his reiatsu after all, just as Nell had described. The off-place thought that this must be lonely for the king crossed the visard's mind.

"Here." Ichigo fumbled with the fabric thrown at his hands. In his thoughtful state he had failed to realise they had gone inside an unfamiliar room and that Grimmjow had been rummaging in a closet. Ichigo unfolded the cloth. Three black lines dropped from the neck in the white shirt, one was a zipper, all the way down, the other two curved beneath the arms. "You don't need to know who it belonged to, just that you're about the same size." Ichigo nodded, his curiosity would go unsatisfied, it seamed. He proceed to remove what was left of his kimono, leaving him clad on his hakama. Grimmjow stopped him before he could throw on the shirt, taking it back from his hands with a grunt. "Now that I think about it, it's weird for you to use it like that." Ichigo's eyes widened at the speed in which the other male turned the piece of clothing inside out and began to tear at the seams along the lines that curve under the arms, leaving just enough fabric so the shirt would still be a shirt, but not having sleeves anymore. Grimmjow dropped it back on his hands once he was done and disappeared out of the door without another word. The orange haired boy just stood there, staring at the door for a few moments, wondering what had gotten into the arrancar's head.

"What the fuck?" He mused aloud. He then put the shirt on, looking himself in the mirror that hung all the way on the other side of the wide bedroom. He blushed at the torn look of the top of where were once the sleeves. He was glad Grimmjow had done it. Instead of feeling like he was wearing a stranger's clothes, he felt like he was using something Grimmjow had chosen for him. He didn't try and raid his mind as to why that made him feel giddy. Ichigo pointed to his reflexion and raised a brow. "What'cha looking at? It _is_ a dangerous game you are playing here." Shirosaki was smiling back at him. 'What would you know of the game you're playing, little brat?' Ichigo resisted the urge to yelp and jump away from the mirror at the sight of his hollow counterpart. "What's that supposed to mean." Like a very real dream, or a scene from a movie, Shirosaki grabbed the edge of the frame and used it as leverage to climb right out of Ichigo's own reflection. This time Ichigo did jump back, his left eye twitching with confusion. "Since when can you do that?" The hollow smiled at him. 'Details, details, they don't really matter. The more pressing issue would be that of your current lack of residence, and of course,' he stared openly at the visard's new choice of fashion, 'this thing that's going on in here.' He elaborated, pointing circles in the general direction of Ichigo and his new clothes. Like the stubborn guy that Ichigo is he grabbed the hem of Shirosaki's kimono and pressed his nose to that of his double. "**Nothing** is _'going on'_ here." 'Pff, yeah right'. The albino laughed. 'You're fraternizing with arrancar. Furthermore your making friends out of enemies.' Ichigo pushed him as he let go of Shirosaki's clothes. "Nell was never an enemy to start with." The other smirked. 'You know I'm talking not about her.' Ichi swatted at his image with his hand like he was trying to dissipate smoke, effectively making his hollow recede to his mind. 'You know I'm right though, partner, and that's just the tip of the iceberg.' Ichigo was grinding his teeth as he made his way out of the room. Shirosaki's cackling laughter fading away slowly to the back of his consciousness. In his ire, he failed to notice the large gothic eight engraved on the white wall as he stomped down the corridor, without a clue as to where Grimmjow had left him.

Grimm p.o.v.

His heart, or the semblance of it that pumped his fluids around, was thrumming madly in his chest, Grimmjow was thrilled with his discovery. He had finally found his loophole on the the Nelliel law, a way to dominate and own the berry. The fact that this solution did not involve killing Ichigo only came as a bonus after his previous epiphany. Another thing that made the king's blood pressure go up, was the fact that he was still painfully hard. But he chose to ignore it, images of the red head in his black hakama and nothing more raking his brain.

Making Ichigo cave to be eaten whole, thats what he would do.

The same moment the boy had insinuated nudity, Grimmjow had mentally undressed him and found a wave of arousal ripple down his abs directly to his groin. He tasted sand in his throat when he imagined himself running his hands down the front of the visard's torso and he knew he would eventually. Because a king always got what he wanted. Such was his mentality as things stood. But for Grimmjow to have what he wanted, he needed time, and to buy that time he needed help. So off he ran to Nell's favourite garden, the greenhouse. Upon arriving he spotted a few gardener arrancars scouring off inside. Good, he did not need nosy attendants gossiping around. He found Nell spraying water on her orchids, a calm peace on her face as she cared for her obnoxious plants. "How long?"

"How long what, Grimmjow?" She need not turn to know who was talking or what expression was on his face. He sat down on the edge of a large parallelepiped vase.

"How long will he stay?" She did turn to inspect his appearance. A few cuts on his hakama, dirt all over his unclothed upper body and sweat drenched hair. She approved of it, as far as 'I just brawled' looks went. She imagined Ichigo looking somewhat similar and made a mental note to show him to his room and make him take a bath. She turned back to her orchids and and resumed watering the ones left.

"Why don't you ask him?" Grimmjow scrunched his nose up, small creases forming on the bridge. Nell predicted such a reaction without needing to think about it and proceeded with her monologue after a studied pause. "I don't know. I don't think he knows that either. Not yet." As she said that she was satisfied with the humidity on the soil and turned to face her suzerain. "How about you help him find that out yourself? If you want him to leave so bad..." She innerly smiled with glee, aware that she was painting a scenario that went against the one he was trying to give away to purposely throw him off balance and make him spill the beans regarding his motives for inquiry.

"What? Huh? No I meant..." He trailed off before catching up. "Wait, what? How the hell am I to decide how long he stays unless I virtually kick him out." She let it drop and went straight to the point.

"Ask him to stay, fucktard." She said it in her usual conversional tone, but it iced his blood.

A/N: I'm in love with this, I can't brake away from the keyboard. X3 Sue me.

So, after the 'kung fu fighting' chapter came one 'fast as lightning' update * wiggles brows *. Cookies for anyone that found the pun amusing, to the ones that found my sense of humour 'a little bit frightening'; there'll be no GrimmIchi fanservice to you. :P Don't get used to it though. It's **so** not the usual gig.

I'd like to thank everyone who reviewed, specially CNH. Your reviews blew life back to me, I didn't even realise how depressed I was until I found my self running around and doing flip-flops in the middle of my living room, screaming "SHE REVIEWED! SHE LIKED IT! I CAN'T TAKE THIS, I'M GONNA EXPLODE!" x3


	7. Ripples in the water

Ichi p.o.v.

Bubbles filled the air as he uncrossed his legs and crossed them the other way, the rich mango-peach smell that was dragged up in the atmosphere of the large bath with the bubbles multiplied as they popped. Ichigo inspected the nails on his foot. "Maybe he does need a friend." He admitted quietly.

"What was that sweetie?" She, in her part, mused, her manicured hands shuffling through the vials of shampoo to find a suitable one.

"Grimmjow." Ichigo clarified, the king's first name echoing in the eight walls of the octagonal room that connected the visard's master bedroom. Nell dragged her bench closer to the edge of the infinity tub.

"Ah, yes. He was just confused, but he has no qualms with admitting to himself that he wants something... once realization strikes him." As her words soothed his ears, her hands went to run through his hair, a cold liquid making contact with his scalp along with them and the scent of oranges joining the cacophony of scents that already surrounded them. Ichigo lifted his hands above the surface and gathered some of the foam that covered the completely opaque mix of milk, oils and minerals. The idea of a milk bath had always baffled him, but he could get used to this; the white liquid was wetter than water, and at the same time didn't seem to wrinkle his skin as much. He blew the foam away, it sparkled white against the dark blue hue of the poorly lit room. Some landed right there, some at knee length, some a little beyond his feet, some was still floating in the air when she asked him to close his eyes and hold his breath. With a shower head she cleaned away the suds.

"There's more to it you know." He said once he rubbed his lashes and opened his eyes again, he craned his neck back and looked at Nell upside down. He was thoughtful and dreamy, like as if not seeing her at all. "There was something about him right then."

"When?" She cooed, leaning in so they were close.

"When we were sparring. We were... I'm not sure." He trailed off. Her giggles filled his ears for a while.

"If it depended of me, you'd have all the time you could ever need to figure it out, Itsugo." She stood and begun to head to the door that was meant for servants. "I'll leave you to resume your bath in privacy, my dear. Good night."

He did not answer, staring up to the skylight through which the moon shined, directly on him in the dark bathroom, and the arabesques surrounding it that occupied the whole ceiling, ripples of reflected moonlight making it look ethereal. He would soon begin to consider Los Noches as a architectural miracle. The door clicked behind her. He let his thoughts wander and, put at ease with his nudity by Nelliel's departure, swung a leg right out of the tub, the level of the liquid falling to compensate for the loss of volume, only to rise again and resume its infinity drop over the borders, he rested his head on his arm, conveniently braced on the ceramic. He felt exhausted, drained and confused. The few hours he hand spent, sitting on the sand a good hundred miles away from there had given him time to think. Ichigo loathed the idea of returning to face his recent past, and Nell was being the friend he needed, the place he could stay over while the trace of his doing, and his own trail, ran cold.

He lay there in such idillic picture for another few minutes before gathering enough energy to sit up and look around. A servant had came in at some time and set his clothes on a low wooden table that was pushed against one of the short walls. Ichigo hadn't even seen it, but once he took note of this his resolve to leave the bath was reforged. He exited the tub and ogled it as it slowly went down, turning into a pool, and emptied itself. The palace was alive, and it creeped him the fuck out. Ichigo made his way to the shower head and rubbed the bath milk away, rushing to the fluffy set of towels that lay beside his clothes. As he towelled himself he inspected the bundles of fabric; his black hakama had been washed, and the torn look on the edges of his shirt mended. There was also some clean underwear.

._.

The visard made his way through the moonlit expanse of pure white marble in his bedroom floor, halting at the open entrance of a balcony that was easily several meters across, and soaked in the view he'd wake up to the next morning. The monochrome of the desert in the far and a myriad of inner patios he was just one level above, a labyrinth made of gapes and stepping stones of a grey green. He let his eyes drift up and left, to the structure that towered above that section of Las Noches. Grimmjow's bedroom was on the last of all those levels, so had said Nell.

"Grimmjow..." He sang the name without even realizing it, more worried with the images of their spar that filled his head, and Grimmjow's eyes upon him, recollecting the look that had run him up and down he could not help himself to desire it back as soon as possible. At least when he was giving Ichigo dirty looks and sparring with him and actually looking like he was enjoying himself as much as Ichigo was, he was not trying to kill him. And as things stood now, his presence was, in fact, quite nice, borderline welcome even. Perhaps Ichigo could come to like him. He blushed in shame of his own thoughts. It was one thing to play friends with Nelliel, another completely different thing to go and start a friendship with Grimmjow. And then it dawned on the visard that it was, even so, a very good idea to be in good terms with the Hollow King. Avoiding further confrontations between Seretei and the arrancar was a golden star, no matter what angle Ichigo tried to blacken it from. There were no down sides in allowing himself to became closer to this place and it's rulers.

Consequently something clicked in Ichigo's psyche, he relaxed further into the fact that he was in Hueco Mundo, his heart warmed with the thought that he didn't need to be so hard on himself.

Grimm p.o.v.

He could not sleep. Not with images of the most exciting day he'd had in years running behind his eyelids. Kurosaki... No, Ichigo, the visard strawberry, his one true rival and nemesis. Oh and was Grimmjow giddy with triumph at his plan to dominate him and thus proving his superiority. He rolled on the bed, stared at the gothic 6 that decorated the celling above his head in memory of his past and sighed deeply. In his mind, Ichigo's brown eyes stared back at him. 'But, what if he leaves?' No, that wouldn't do, Ichigo had to stay no matter what. Otherwise there would be no back to the king's intentions. The mere thought of not being able to see Ichigo at whim made his stomach burn with ire, and his chest clench with desperation. The visard had arrived that same day, and already the king wouldn't take it that he left. Grimmjow's thoughts went round in circles and the urge to see the read head bubbled up in his throat, an urge to touch him and know he was still here, in his perimeter, his safe zone, where he could keep and eye on him, where he could personally **Keep Him. **He could feel the youth's reiatsu, coming from the room just on the base of his tower, leave it to Nelliel to allow him the best rooms in the whole complex.

The king sat up and stared outside. He could go there now if he desired so. Maybe Ichigo was asleep. Maybe he wouldn't even be aware of Grimmjow's presence. Maybe he would be able to run his fingers through his hair and see if it was indeed as soft as it looked. Grimmjow rubbed his eyes and groaned to suppress such desires. Yes, he wanted to dominate and own Ichigo, but it was never of him to lose his composure over small things. He dragged his naked body out of bed and slipped into a pair of stark black pyjama pants that were haphazardly thrown to the floor earlier. He grabbed a black jacket that rested on his armchair and headed into his balcony, the grey fur on the jacket tickling his hand. He did not beat around the bush, bending himself in half over the edge of the wall to glare at the place he knew his prey to be. Damn it, wide wake he was, facing away and looking at the desert. Ichigo couldn't sleep either, could he? Go figure, but that would not deter him from going to take a closer look. He threw his jacket on, leaving it open, his eyes never leaving the visard, inspecting his white night kimono. 'I bet that would be pretty easy to take him out of... or maybe just rip away. I could bend him over the wall and just-' He had to remember his cool. The point was to make him beg, not, spotlight on **NOT**, to rape him. He stepped on the wall of his balcony and let himself drop bellow, slipping his hands on his pockets and building up a mask on his expression, he would not allow himself to betray his wants too soon. His dark clothes darted as he gained speed, giving him the batman look as far as falling things go, the sound of his bare feet slapping the pristine surface of the marble seemed to snap the other male out of whatever reverie he had been trapped within.

A/N: YAY! CLIFF HANGER! 8D x3 Sorry guys, I just had to do it, this chapter was going to turn into a monster, so I had to cut him in two. I promise some _very worthy material_, in the next chapter to make it up. Also want to apologise for any typos or weirdness on the phrases in this chapter and the last, I've been asking my pall minsra, at dA, to read it over for me, and she's been helping a lot, but I kinda bypassed her with these last too in my eagerness to update. If you find any mistakes, you'd be doing me an infinite favour to point them out through a review, thank you kitties for reading. x3


	8. The Dance

Ichi- p.o.v.

Ichigo's heart jumped to his hands when he turned around to be faced with the one and same that populated his thoughts, he struggled to not show the stammered state of his jumbled thoughts, deflating his shoulders in an exhausted defeat as means of setting the mood for his defence as his blood decided to rush to his head. "I'm too tired for a rematch, you know?"

Grimmjow grimaced with lack of amusement. "Well good evening to you too." He chuckled. Ichigo had to look the man up and down to realize that something was different about him, the arrancar's attire clicked into place in his pieced mind a moment later. Black, all black, Grimmjow looked more dangerous, and yet the least offensive he had ever seen him, his stance relaxed for once. He was not there for a rematch but he sure looked like he could attack Ichigo at any given second, a little part of him wanted for him to do so. When his eyes trailed back up he found that dirty look back in place though and he shivered in the chilled night air despite of there being no breeze blowing across the desert. The visard crossed his arms over his belly and wished for a sleeping kimono that would at least reach his knees, as it was he had goosebumps all over his embarrassingly hairless expanse of skin across his legs.

"I'd love one tomorrow though."

That brought a smile to the other's face. "Of course you would. Who wouldn't want to play around with me?" He said it in a tone that did not mach his usual insane one, the one that suggested a fight. This both puzzled Ichigo and made him mach Grimmjow's smile trying to desperately read through him and coming up empty.

"Well, we can play all you want then." He said, only to turn around immediately to hide his face and try to regain some composure, Ichigo tried his best to ignore that he was baring himself by turning his back on him. A few seconds went by without the silence being broken, and after such pregnant pause Ichigo's heart picked up when he felt breath ghosting down the back of his neck. He struggled not to flinch and repressed a shiver.

"What are you thinking so hard about? You've stood there so quietly for over half an our now, I thought you were sleeping." Grimmjow was close enough that already the air between them was luke warm, Ichigo's body welcomed this warmth without the visard's permission, the cold skin aching to be heated up. He did not move.

"The things that brought me here, the reasons to why I can't exactly come back." _Why are you telling him that? So you managed to fight without spilling blood and suddenly you're palls?_ Shirosaki teased from within, cackling with unconcealed mirth.

"Why was that, anyway?" He was surprised he had to bite his tongue not to just sing the events of the previous night to the king. 'What's wrong with me?'

"Tell you what; you tell me how you made it and I'll tell you what happened." Ichigo turned to face him, pleasing himself to be able to go on speaking despite the fact that his mind turned heels and ran once he saw how close Grimmjow's angular face was to his, and how blue his eyes looked even in the pale light of Hueco Mundo's moon, their noses were a hair away, and how had he never noticed he is slightly taller than him.

"Fair enough." 'Grimmjow's breath smells like iron.' _Oh! This is too good!_ The hollow shrieked, doubling himself in laughter somewhere just inside of Ichigo's perception. He didn't pay him any mind, mostly because he had no mind left to spare, it was stuck somewhere between, 'Is that a scar on his chin?' and 'His lips look sooo~ rough. I bet that if I could just...' And suddenly Grimmjow had backed up to an arm's length distance. Immediately did the read head's body protest with shivers of abandonment when it no longer felt his warmth. Ichigo let his shoulders follow his shin and stepped back to lean on the wall of the balcony, his brain still frozen out of place.

"It was Nell." The visard had to force himself to pay whatever attention to what the king was saying. "She was with me when I woke up. She taken care of me, still a brat, so happy when I gained consciousness. We made it together... " Ichigo had figured something like this could've happened, it would explain why the two were remotely close, but hearing Grimmjow talk about it was different. "Hueco Mundo can be very cruel to something as weak as she was, if I had not woken up when I did things would've gotten very ugly. Especially because she was alone as it was." Ichigo sat back further on the wall. Averting his eyes from the dirty look that hadn't left the other's, even as the arrancar talked about something that close to home. His mind was scattered, split between processing what was being said to him or his previous thoughts, he completely forgot he was supposed to tell something in his turn and dissimulated an itch on his foot to buy him some thinking time.

_Bad move, partner._

Ichigo's body slipped backward, beginning what would undoubtedly an annoying fall, only a small amount of shock had time to accumulate, two strong hands gripped his wrists in a tight but gentle hold, rocking his body with a jerk that balanced him back on top of the wall. The red head was almost afraid of looking up, heat was pooling across his inner tights where the warm body of the arrancar stood between them, and he felt his breath quicken almost instantly. "Careful." Grimmjow whispered to his ear, his rust-filled voice making Ichigo's pulse jump and dance the tango behind his eyelids. Ichigo forced himself to swallow dry. _Oh, how dangerous._ Shiro was not referring the fall.

"Thanks." He breathed quickly. Grimmjow let go of his arms, Ichigo retrieved them to near his belly like they'd been burned and the other did not move from his spot right on the visard's personal space. Adding this behaviour to Nell's earlier invasion of his bath, he was starting to ask himself if they had any notion of what that was at all. He dared look up, into strong blue holes that sucked the life right of of him.

"Now, you going to talk or what?" Grimmjow inquired, neither pissed nor prodding. The read head tried to stammer something, get anything out, any words at all, but his dictionary seemed to 404. "Well?" _ For the love of-, stop behaving like a bitch and tell him the deed._

"... F-friend of mine." He at last got out.

"What was that?" Grimmjow frowned, cocking his head to the side.

"I hurt a friend of mine." He said, looking down. Ichigo pursued Inoue's ordeal in his head, trying to separate himself of the current intense situation, but those damn eyes he was locked with had other ideas.

The king looked incredulous, one short eyebrow rising above the other. "That's why? What, did your 'friend' exile you from the living world or something?"

Ichigo opened his mouth and closed it repeatedly, much like a fish above water. He had yet to add into consideration that Grimmjow might never come to understand those sorts of things. "I just couldn't face her!" He tried to elaborate.

"I don't get it. You could've gone somewhere else to escape her." Grimmjow scratched behind his mask. _Of course he don't get it..._

"I have nowhere to go." Ichigo mused aloud, the feeling of loneliness that would normally derive from that particular thought lost in the moment.

… _but he is the answer_, Shiro prodded. And then the hollow king snorted before making his offer: "Stay. You just have to NOT leave, Kurosaki. Ain't so hard to figure out." He would. Ichigo knew he wouldn't return now, not after what happened.

A/N: Oh mai. The first climax of the fic! 8D This concludes part one of the story. There will be three.

This chapter took this long to finish because I was trying to get to the end of it without ripping Ichigo of his current virginity. It's four chapters too early for that, but my mind kept suggesting in a sultry way that the next paragraph should be along the lines of 'Grimmjow snapped and ripped the silky thing that was ridding way to high on those creamy thighs out of his way, the blushing figure that greeted his eyes did not disappoint his libido...' It goes on in my mind, in endless loops, begging to be written. And yet I resisted like the true champ. x3


	9. Let the games begin

Morning came to find the Hollow King in a very refreshing mood. He walked into the kitchens and cooked his own breakfast, and treating himself to a power omelet and fresh fruit from the gardens, he walked out into the open lounge with a big smile. Nelliel was there. Reading a human book while a cup of tea chilled on the coffee table before her. Grimmjow made to seat himself down, right in across the sea foam haired arrancar. "Gooo~od morning!"

Cold grey eyes slitted in distrust from atop of the yellowed pages of _Tropical Gardens; 6__th__ volume_. "Good morning ,Grimmjow. Had a good night of sleep, I presume?" A brilliant smile spread across his lips, eventually rolling them to show pearly white teeth that shined with happiness.

"Hell yeah. And how are we today?" He asked absent mindedly as he dug in to his meal with gusto. Nell struggled not to either flee from the normally anti-social arrancar or get on her knees and beg him to tell her what happened that got him into such a good mood. She took advantage of her read to hide any expressions that could give her morbid curiosity away.

"Fine, as usual. Seen Itsugo around?" She prodded discretely. Had to have something to do with Ichigo, he was the foreign ingredient in the mix.

The King pulled his eyes from the plate between eggs bites to answer her. "Not since last night, no."

This spiked her interest enough for Nelliel to abandon her cover. "Last night? What happened last night?" She marked her book and set it down near her tea, picking up the delicate english cup instead.

He grinned up at her, feeling his chest puff with pride at his accomplishments. "I talked to him!" He stated. Nell's expecting stare did not leave him, waiting for a more elaborate description., and upon seeing this Grimmjow rushed to tell her more. "I asked him to stay, like you told me to."

"Really?" She asked, not all to ready to believe him. Nell knows hows bad Grimmjow is with all the 'talking' thing. "And how did that go?"

"Well he... just nodded and said he was tired before rushing off to bed." He concluded about the same time he started on his fruit.

"Oh, I see." Things were quiet for a while, while Nell sipped her tea and Grimmjow tucked into his plums. "So... talked about anything else that was interesting?"

He sat back on the armchair. "I guess so."

"What about?"

Grimmjow was about to talk when he did a double take. "Well aren't you exclusively inquisitive today?"

"Did you two kiss, Grimmjow?" She asked in a monotone, a pointed stare piercing into Grimmjow's eyes like she could read his mind and listen to his most private thoughts.

"WHAT?" He shrieked, taken absolutely by surprise. "EXCUSE ME?"

"I take that as a no, but you wanted to, right?" She carried on, her cup hiding her lips.

"How-HOW THE HECK DO YOU KNOW THAT?" He pointed an accusatory finger at her, his cheeks stained red in embarrassment. No one was supposed to know of his private project, much less the one he's trying to fool it with. "STOP GETTING IN MY HEAD YOU WITCH!"

She sat her empty cup down. "Now, now, Grimmjow. I know you the best. Do you think that my little Grimmjow's first love would go unnoticed by me? That just hurts." Nelliel feigned anguish, her big grey eyes watering up on the edges.

At the mention of the L word, the king's blush was elevated to new highs, a bright fluorescent red covering all of his face that he tried to explain to himself by yelling some more. "SHUT YOUR MOUTH WOMAN! WHAT DO YOU KNOW?"

"But Grimmjow! Nell just wants to help! I can have him moved to the room beneath to you! Then you could rendezvous in the middle of the night; that'd be so romantic!" Grimmjow slammed his palm into his face and tried to control his temper, breathing in an out very fast, he got the redness in his face to recede.

"Let's agree that of all ideas you could've come up with, thats the most useless of them all, okay?" He let his face go in favour of glaring at hers. "AND I'M NOT IN LOVE WITH HIM DAMNIT! IT'S NOT SUPPOSED TO BE ROMANTIC!"

Ichi- p.o.v.

Sleepless, that is how his night had gone by. Between freak-outs and long periods of time trying to figure out how he had never noticed his attraction to men before this brand new fiasco came along, he had failed to fall asleep. This was just ridiculous. He allows himself to relax around the King for once and trust him not to go for his head, next thing he knows his blood is rushing to all the wrong places. Doesn't even make sense in his head! Must be some kind of allergic reaction to something he'd eaten while here, because if Ichigo was **really **attracted to men, he would have noticed this earlier, right? He strongly hoped for a few seconds that it wasn't the hollow meat that he was having an allergic reaction to, then felt hypochondriac and stupid as he rolled over to his side again.

Another thing that disturbed him was the fact that of all the people he could have noticed this detail about himself with, it had to happen with Grimmjow. After all Ichigo is a guest in his house and does not want to be kicked out, scenario that he believes perfectly possible does he ever find out that he has Ichigo having these _reactions_ to him.

Ichigo felt another headache coming, and some part of him was identifying this as fear of rejection. Another thing Ichigo had come to the conclusion of throughout his sleepless night was that, he couldn't remember ever being attracted to anyone before this. There was always too much blood to focus on anything else. He tried to convince himself that he had a crush on Yoruichi for a few minutes, but it did not work all that fine. No matter how he though of it he only felt embarrassment every time he remembered her body. The problem with this would be that, if that were true, this would make Grimmjow the first time Ichigo was remotely interested in anyone. And He was so troubled with his thoughts and revelations as it stood that he was not ready to think about whatever had gone down the night before. But he thought about Grimmjow alright. Down to the last detail. The smell of rust that he had on him. The way that black looked so much better than white on him. The way he looked at him that made Ichigo wish he was touching with hands instead of stares. And how he tried to block it all out, failing miserably and getting an erection in consequence of his 'reliving the details' thoughts.

All out through the night he had resisted the urge to calm himself down using more unorthodox methods, trying to think of Matsumoto's boobs to deflect it into the safe zone, succeeding only in killing his wood. Thus proving the smashing reality of the nights events further.

Ichigo had an inner turmoil going on. He had the curtains closed to block out the artificial morning sun, and a Grimmjow induced arousal sitting between his legs. His head had a splitting headache going on, deriving from too little sleep and too much thinking, and he was on the edge of the precipice as far as desperation for a little rest went.

"Damn it all to hell." He uttered harshly, slipping his hand beneath the covers and reaching beyond his sleeping kimono.

A/N: Momma Nell is my hero :')

On other news: Ichigo is dense! :D

I really hope you liked this chapter, 'cus I wrote it in, like, two hours, just because I felt like updating. X3 If you find any mistakes in it please say something, because I didn't even bother to check it more than the minimalistic twice. It didn't even feel long to write.

Anyway, I have a new plot bunnies. Involves goddesses (Yoruichi, Inoue and Nelliel), Ichigo stuck with Grimmjow in a voyage to rescue a trapped Rukia from the evil clutches of god Harribel and the three awful demi-goddesses that follow her around. Throw some worried RenBya in there and you've got my idea. But I need to finish this and another fic I've got half written already before getting there. Which sucks very much. D:


	10. Look in your face like

Lying all alone and restless, unable to lose this image

Sleepless, unable to focus on anything but your surrender

Tuggin' a rhythm to the vision that's in my head

Tuggin' a beat to the sight of you lying

So delighted with a new understanding

Something about a little evil that makes

That unmistakable noise I was hearing

Unmistakable sound that I know so well

Spent and sighing with a look in your eyes

Spit and sweatin' with a look on your face like

Sweet revelation, sweet surrender,

Surrender, surrender, surrender

Thinking of you, thinking of you,

Thinking...

(Thinking of you – a perfect circle)

Quite past lunch time it was, when a white shadow creeped into the room where the visard slept. It made no sound as it tiptoed the cold white marble in bare feet. He approached the King size bed where it lay in the very centre of the room, a round piece of furniture covered in pristine white covers, and lively orange hair, somewhere in there. The soft light of the middle of the afternoon filtered through the cracks between drapes and gave the large division an eerie feel, so that when the silent king peered across the expanse of wide lay, he had to contain himself before making something he'd regret. All he could see was white and long, tan legs, which skin looked supple and fresh, like skin of a plum fruit, ready to be eaten, be bitten. Arms thrown overhead lay Ichigo, lips parted and breathing softly and out of rhythm, in a sweet dream, eyes waltzing beneath his eyelids and cheeks lightly flushed, Ichigo was a wet dream. Oh but it was too cruel, sleeping in like that, he was depriving Grimmjow of his time with him, so unfair the visard is it made the king mad. He gently sat on the mattress near the angel face of the read head, daring to brush small bangs out of the boys forehead. He shivered at how soft it felt and ran hand across his cheek, and exposed neck, he froze when a weak needy moan erupted from the sleeping Ichigo, quickly he pulled his hand back and stared at his face to watch for a change in expression that could signal an imminent awakening, successfully ignoring the way the boy's voice had traveled directly to his groin. Ichigo did in fact wake, twitching his nose first, scowl forming then, and finally, hazy browns opened to gaze the outside world. Grimmjow did not breath for two seconds, waiting out the confusion in the clear eyes of the visard, that were stuck in his face, by the way.

"Grimmjow." Such hoarse drop of words could only make him smile. A very goofy smile I might add, one that giggles and squints eyes without really needing to do those things.

"Morning, Ichigo." The prey turned beet red, moving as fast as he could out of the bed and stand, realising midway his kimono was opened and reaching to hold it close to his skin. "Even though it's more like the middle of the afternoon actually."

"Damn! Don't scare me like that you idiot! Do you make some kind of weird habit out of watching people sleep?" The blue haired arrancar threw himself on the now empty bed, not like it wasn't his as well, his goofy mood now settled more comfortably than ever.

"Course not, Kurosaki." He made sure Ichigo was looking him in the eyes so he could end what he had to say. "It's just you, you're special." Grimmjow husked, his best star smile in place, then delighted himself with the way Ichigo averted his eyes so he was looking anywhere near the man, his adam's apple visibly going up then down in a dry swallow.

Then he knew. Grimmjow Jaggerjaques fucking knew that he had already taken the first steps to get what he wanted, the question still remained, though, did _he_ know? Did Ichigo know that he wanted him just as bad. He had to help him realise this did he not? Else he not be a gentleman toward his soon to be possession. Once he had Ichigo bent for him he would not let go, Grimmjow already had the fact that once he had the orange head wrapped around his fingers he wouldn't want anything else. This is why he is sure of himself.

An uncomfortable slurping sound filled the heavy silence and Ichigo's blush hardened.

"I'm starved." He stated, still not looking him in the eyes. Oh, but that wouldn't do.

Grimmjow patted the bed beside him. "C'mere and I might think about cooking you something myself." Ichigo shot him this absurd accusative and incredulous look. "What? You don't believe I can do it?"

"Well, I just think it's a little strange that you would learn a skill like that since..." The visard went on speaking but that's all he need to hear from him, he knelt and grabbed the front of the youth's kimono, tugging him harshly back to a horizontal position. A very manly squeal followed Ichigo down, interrupting his speech. "What was that for?"

"You talk to much. I already told you I'll get your ass fed." He grunted, his smile still in place. He just felt that the feedback he was getting for it was worth the trouble of keeping his good mood in place. He heard Ichigo sigh deeply as they both stared at the celling.

"I slept like a rock."

"Do you always sleep that much?" Ichigo rolled on his side to stare at him.

"I didn't sleep that long actually." Grimmjow frowned.

"How come? Do you wake up a lot?"

"No I..." Grimmjow rolled to meet him stare. "Just couldn't sleep."

The king slitted his eyes at him. "You _were tired_ last night."

"Well, I, uh..." When he couldn't find any words, red began to fill the void they left.

Grimmjow scowled, then decided to tease him the way Nell does to him, playing innocent. "You look a little red, maybe you're sick?" He touched the red head's forehead with the back of his hand. The redness multiplied.

"I'm not, really!" The other snapped between clenched teeth, grabbing his wrist in a vice like grip.

"Pssh, what's wrong with you Kurosaki? S'not like I'm going to hurt you." Further confusion took over Ichigo, before distrust got the best of him.

"You **always** want to hurt me." Grimmjow sighed deeply. He'd already guessed he'd have to put a few words in to change their current way of rivalry.

"What's the point in hurting my sparring partner? Then I'd have to find another one, which is damn near impossible." He gave his best trusting smile out, and innerly crossed his fingers in expectation. This. This would form an unspoken peace contract, they'd be officially not at each other's throats anymore.

"Are you serious?" Ichigo asked in a monotone. After a few more seconds of goofy smiling up against untrusting scowls, the visard let go of his wrist. "Scratch that! Are you high?"

Grimmjow chuckled throatily. "Yeah, somewhat." Then proceed to scoot closer to Ichigo on the bed. Leaning in to inhale his fruity scent, the same scent that drove him up the walls the day before. Ichigo had wide eyes on him. "But that's all your fault, you're so funny."

A/N: God. This was harder to get out than what I thought. Remember, in to chapters they'll be behaving themselves like bunnies. This is a Mery promise. :D

And cookies to anyone that understands why I used that song in the beginning.


	11. Sweet revelation

The small kitchen Grimmjow took him to had nothing to do with the large kitchens filled with action he'd been before with Nell. Those large expanses of granite that had been mostly covered with hollow blood stains and large chucks of decaying flesh were nowhere to be seen here. This was a calm place, the cabinets were a pale green blue and there were a few fridges where he'd seen none before in the other cooking spaces The room was about 5X3 meters across, and nice little windows let the fake afternoon sun in, to invade the space and give it a welcoming feel. It had done nothing to his racing heart when the king held the door for him and invited him to sit on a stall, with a dazzling smile. Then he proceeded to start pulling things out from the cabinets. "What are you doing? You aren't cooking hollow for me are you?"

Grimmjow had mischief in his eyes as he pulled a frying pan from one of the cabinets. "You can't really make pancakes out of hollow stuff..." He paused to look around inside one of the fridges, only to second guess himself and poke his head back out to look at him. "I mean, you _can_. But believe me, it's just not any... y'know."

Ichigo's mind started reeling again. "Pancakes? You going all domestic on me?" Having Grimmjow this close all this time was already messing with his head as it was. That the arrancar was serious about cooking for him was something else entirely.

Grimm produced a large bowl and scratched his head. "I guess, why not? S'not like you'll spar me on an empty stomach." Then he went back to the american brand butter he'd raided off the fridge and set some to melt on a small pot above the stove. Watching him dance across the family sized kitchen Ichigo felt numb, like he was still in the middle of his dream. His dream that consisted of having the very same hollow that was cooking him breakfast push him against a random wall and ripping his shirt off. He could feel none of the natural anxiousness that should have come with this kind of situation, involving someone who has honestly wanted, and tried, to kill you before, and he was a little scared, even if his head was currently telling him to fuck normal reactions and try to figure out just how he was supposed to act on these new developments. Because he wanted to. He couldn't deny that particular fact after jacking off to the fantasy of being dominated by the ex-sworn enemy. 'I'm so fucked up.' He sighed to himself, observing the yellow swirls of grease in the now liquid butter.

"Did you hear me?" He flinched and turned his eyes away from the stove and up to blue orbs that were torn between annoyance and mirth. "I asked for help, berry, get your ass off that stall."

Ichigo allowed his ever present scowl to deepen. "I though I was being cooked breakfast."

"You are. But good things take work. Don't be fucking lazy and get me the flour from that thing up there." Grimmjow grunted, cocking his head to the direction of one specific cabinet while he eye measured sugar into the bowl. The visard clicked his tongue and did has he was told. Grabbing a blue and white kilogram paper pack, that looked suspiciously french to him, he set it down near Grimm. The action felt so foreign to him by the blunette's side that a shiver ran down his back. He'd only helped out Yuzu in the kitchen, and his mom before her, Grimmjow just did not fit himself into the picture. "Thanks." Said king muttered as he poured the flour in by instinct as well, and Ichigo felt compelled to ask how he had learned his way around the kitchen, but kept his questions at bay. Things were surreal enough as it stood. This afternoon's events on the bed had his imagination running wild all over his inner world. And he could only guess that that was the reason neither of his head roomies wanted to surface out for a chat. Smart guys, avoiding awkwardness. How Ichigo wished he could escape the moments he was now forced to live in the presence of someone that made his blood boil with most of the movements he made.

Grimmjow suddenly jumped towards the stove, grunting out: "Fuck!" As he hurriedly turned the fire out. "Almost messed that up." He breathed out in relief. What he did fail to notice, however, was that while he'd got to the butter in time, he'd dropped the flour kilo to meet its destiny. Destiny seemed to lay on Ichigo's clean black hakama, and so the courageous, unsuspecting, french, paper flour pack disintegrated against the pristine midnight black of Ichigo's only pair of usable bottoms.

They stared at each other in silence as the flour that still travelled around the air started to go down.

"Grimmjow?" A calm that both knew to be fake was used on Ichigo's blank facade.

"Yes, Ichigo?"

"Can I start distrusting your skills in the kitchen now?"

"Erm... no." Grimmjow drowned out, scowling in mild confusion.

"Oh, ok... What about having that spar right now and start breaking a few rules, then?" Grimmjow felt like saying yes for a second there, but then scrunched up his nose in distrust at the prospect that this could be a trap.

"No." Was his answer and Ichigo closed his eyes and sighed deeply before opening them once more.

"Ok then, Grimmjow?"

"Yeah?"

"What are your thoughts on revenge?"

The king could not stop himself from smiling. "Stupid, but fun." Two milliseconds flat had a raw egg crushed against his styled hair. His pulse sped up when he realised that the blur he'd seen during that time had been Ichigo reaching for the six-pack of white eggs that had previously sat on the counter. He was standing about four feet away from him, one arm straddling the egg's cardboard box while his free hand played with another one of those thin-shelled make-do bombs.

"Good, then. Because these don't need cooking for an effective revenge." Grimmjow's wide eyes did not flatter before Ichigo went on with his speech. "Do you know, how much I do NOT want to use the white hakama's you've got around here? Do you know that you just ruined my last good piece of clothing?" Took the king several more words to realise the playful tone of challenge that had sipped its way into the visard's tone. "Do you _know_... how **fucking mad** YOU just made ME?" And then it was not about Ichigo's clothes anymore. They stared deeply into each other's eyes and sparks of raw electricity flew back and forth, pumping adrenaline filled blood to all the right places. Grimmjow quickly reached the milk-carton that was right to his side and uncorked it, holding it up in front of him like he had Pantera right there. Battle stances were took and they walked around each other circling an isle counter that occupied the most of the kitchen's middle, evaluating the damage each could cause with their chosen weapons. Grimmjow moved first climbing, with a scissor motion, to the top of the centre isle, trying to get the high ground so he could throw a spray of alpine milk towards Ichigo's bright mop of orange hair, a squeal greeted his ears when he was already retreating.

"FUCK! That shit is cold!" The visard growled, glaring flames to the place behind the isle where blue spikes that looked sticky as hell were peeking out into view. Ichigo made a move to climb around the obstruction and Grimm took off in a mad dash to one of the fridges, opening the door to the cold just about in time to stop a flying egg that hit the white surface of the appliance with a sickening crash. His eyes were wide as saucers as he watched, with his blood pumping in his ears, the yellow mass of destroyed yoke and white slurring onto the tiles beneath the door. He let go of the cart, said package spilling its contents on the floor, ignored, in favour of grabbing a jar from the interior of the cold storage, that read 'Nuttela', and unscrewing it open. If this was war, he would not loose, he rather pull out the big guns. Ichi's shadow appeared on the reflecting tiles and he was quick to leave his make-shift trench, crawling into the relative safety of the other side of the kitchen. If his math was any good, the visard had only one more egg, that with the three he had himself cracked into the bowl, and the two he'd used up already. He turned around when he heard the refrigerator's door slap closed and showed Ichigo his tongue in a gesture of pure mock-provocation. A hard growl was followed with a flying egg that hit the low cabinet behind him when he dodged the expected projectile. Knowing his foe to be out of ammo he jumped around the counter and grabbed both his arms behind his back, the empty egg container falling carelessly into the wet floor.

Ichigo's eyes were terrified. "No! STOP! That's cheating~!" The king howled in laughter, putting the chocolate cream down and scooping up a few fingers of the mix, promptly smashing his open hand on the part of Ichigo's face that did not have milk strings running down to his chin. Ichigo, however did not let himself be subdued for long, stuffing a newly released hand into the jar and reaching backwards to slather the cream on the arrancar's exposed chest. Grimmjow chuckled at the ticklish feeling, reaching over to the glass container again and stuffing Ichigo's giggling mouth with chocolate, in this the jar is dragged over the edge of the counter, breaking into nasty little bits all over the floor. The visible part of red head's cheeks went in twenty different shades of red upon feeling Grimmjow's fingers wiggling around with his tongue. Oh! And chocolate... you don't know what chocolate (even if it also tastes like hazelnut) does to Kurosaki Ichigo. The red head whined, involuntarily sucking the prodding digits further in. He became all to aware of the hard body that was pressing into his back when he heard the noise Grimmjow produced out of the bottom of his throat. Fuck. Grimmjow did not have the right to make him feel as light headed as he did right then.

Ichigo didn't register that he kept licking the king's fingers until he'd swallowed all of the chocolate that had mingled with the salt on the skin. By the time he was done, panting and light-headed, Grimmjow had his forehead on his shoulder. He lifted his head to whisper into Ichigo's ear between trying to catch his breath.

"That's not even in the rules."

A/N: Food fight!

Just because I took a long time to update and you kitties deserved a little love. :D

I took this long because I turned eighteen friday and partied all night long, when morning came around I went home to take a shower and then hit 'animepop', that's a conv we had going up here in Lisbon. By the time I got home that night I had all of the ideas set for this chapter and the next, but I was about ready to die, so, I did exactly that. Then sunday I hit animepop again. This time dress up to impress in my Dr. YAOI persona. I had so much success that in no time I was running around with people following me around, I even had air time at the stage ^^ I felt so famous xD But oh well, I died again and kept myself dead through the day today x3. Anyway, here it is. Hope you liked it, please leave some comments.


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